Ten Thousand Rally In Battery Park Against Trump's Immigration Ban - AG's Predict It Will Be Overturned By Courts

An estimated ten thousand people attended Sunday's rally Battery Park to protest Donald Trump's executive order .   (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to inlarge.

Manhattan

An estimated ten thousand people gathered in historic Battery Park to protest the President’s executive order that temporarily prohibits migrants from seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States. 

The demonstration featured people from all backgrounds, nationalities and ages. Chants “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,”  “Impeach, impeach, impeach,”  were heard throughout the event.

Thousands of people held signs with many slogans including “America was built by refugees,” and “Muslim ban is un-American,”  “Let them in, let them in.”

The protestors were joined by numerous elected officials  including Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senator Chuck Schumer, Sen. Jerry Nadler,  New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and other city and state officials who spoke on a small platform just west of Castle Clinton National Monument.  

Sen. Charles Schumer denounced President Donald Trump’s executive orders calling them bad for America.

 “We are here today to deliver a vociferous, a vociferous no to both the president and those horrible horrible executive orders,” a fired up Schumer told the crowd.  

“They are bad for America, They’re bad for humanity, they are bad for national security and they are bad for everything that is American," he said.

Sign of the Times. Thousands lined the park's pathways holding up hand made messages.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer mentioned the enormous economic value immigrates bring to the City. 

“I do the books,” he said.

Comptroller Stringer also inferred the possibility of Trump getting impeached which brought loud chants of, “impeach, impeach, impeach,” from the crowd.

At Saturday’s rally, organizers announced that Attorney Generals from sixteen states representing “over 130 million American’s” including New York and California signed a letter calling Trump’s order illegal.  

“We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts,” the letter said.   (Full statement below) 

Protesters later marched a mile north through the streets to another Parks Department property, Foley Square, across the street from the Manhattan offices of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Sunday’s protest at Battery Park was co-sponsored by 12 organizations including the New York Immigration Coalition and New York Civil Liberties Union.

It was the second day in a row of large protests. Thousands demonstrated at John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 4 on Saturday.  

On Friday Donald, “grab them by the p***y” Trump signed an Executive Order banning refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and prohibit ones coming from war-torn Syria indefinitely. 

On Saturday night a federal judge in Brooklyn granted an emergency nationwide stay preventing the deportation of immigrants detained at U.S. airports and citizens from the seven countries already in transit to America. 

Her ruling was followed by similar federal judges decisions in California,  Boston, Virginia, and Seattle

U.S House and Senate Democrats will rally on the front steps of the Supreme Court today at 6:00 to protest Trump’s immigration order House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic colleagues.  (Full statement below) 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo offered legal assistance to anyone detained at New York airports,  and vowing to ensure the rights of refugees are protected under the law.

 “We have directed the Port Authority and my counsel’s office to make sure we are protecting the legal rights of any person detained at any of our airports, period,” the governor said at a news conference.

 “We will serve as counsel for any detainee who needs legal assistance,” he said.

Yesterday the Governor also announced the creation of a toll-free, 24 hours a day hotline to offer assistance to refugees left in vulnerable situations at New York area airports.   Loved ones  can report passengers on Incoming flights believed to be missing or detained  

Hotline #  1-888-769-7243

The large crowd making thier way out of the park to head north to Foley Square. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to inlarge.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi letter to Democratic colleagues.  

Attorney General Statement

The House of Representatives Delays Vote On Sandy Relief Bill

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I stand here almost in disbelief and somewhat ashamed," - Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island.


House Speaker John Boehner decided not to hold a vote on the bill.   This morning Sen. Chuck Schumer held a press conference at his Third Avenue office urging the House to reverse its decision and vote on Sandy aid.  It took Congress ten days to vote for Hurricane Katrina relief. (AFP/Getty Images) 

Washington

In a surprise decision, the leadership of the House of Representatives said late Tuesday that there would be no more votes in the chamber until a new Congress is sworn in, dealing a major setback to the effort to quickly pass a $60 billion measure aimed at helping the Northeast rebuild after superstorm Sandy, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The news that there would be no votes on Wednesday came just hours after lawmakers from the Northeast expressed optimism that a deal was in place to bring the measure to the floor Tuesday night or Wednesday.

But just after the House approved a bill averting the so-called fiscal cliff, the Republican leadership made clear to members that the 112th Congress was ending. The move drew a parade of Northeastern representatives from both parties to the House floor to express outrage.

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I stand here almost in disbelief and somewhat ashamed," said Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island. Mr. Grimm said that for the first time, he was "not proud of the decision that my team has made."

Less than four hours earlier, Mr. Grimm had expressed confidence that the Sandy aid measure would come to the floor Wednesday and pass. "We have the votes in the House to get it out of the House," he had said.

"I truly feel betrayed this evening. I left this floor with an understanding that this bill was going to be brought to the floor," said Rep. Nita Lowey, a Westchester County Democrat. "Republicans refuse to act to help the victims of Sandy as expeditiously as we know we can."

The Senate had already passed the bill and the House was its final hurdle. The Sandy bill drew opposition from some Republican members of Congress who said it was too large and contained wasteful spending. It had strong support from the governors of New York and New Jersey and the White House.

When asked why the bill was pulled, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said: "The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month." It was Mr. Boehner's decision not to hold a vote on the bill, the spokesman said.

Earlier Tuesday, House Republicans had announced a compromise crafted with the help of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) that would have allowed the measure to come to the floor. To allay the concerns of recalcitrant Republicans, GOP House leaders said Tuesday they had split the $60.4 billion package approved by the Senate into two parts and removed roughly $400 million that some lawmakers thought was unnecessary or unrelated to Sandy.

The first part is $27 billion for what House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R., Ky.) called "immediate relief"—including things such as replenishing the fund used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for disaster relief and providing money to help mass-transit agencies rebuild. Then, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R., N.J.) planned to introduce an amendment that would add $33 billion in longer-term spending on things that would reduce the damage from future storms.

That sort of spending has been criticized by conservative Republicans. Adding it as an amendment would have given them the chance to register their displeasure by voting against it but still have it included in the final bill.

It now appears no votes will take place until the 113th Congress is sworn in on Thursday, at which point both chambers will need to again debate and pass an aid package. Just before midnight, the House was gaveled into recess. Normally a formality, it came despite loud objections and shouts of "nay" from members angry about the surprise move not to hold votes.

Read More:

House Fails to Take Up Sandy Aid Bill
The Wall Street Journal - January 2, 2012 - By Andrew Grossman